Red Bones
by jamiecreswell
Summary: Everyone thought Red John was dead. Until a gruesome murder is stumbled upon by Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth. Is this just another copycat? Or is Red John still alive? Clueless, the team turn to Teresa Lisbon and Kimball Cho for help but they can only do so much. Only one person can stop this cunning murderer: Patrick Jane. But first they need to find the Mentalist/fugitive.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one. Lack of Confidence

Doctor Temperance Brennan stepped out from the black SUV dressed in her crime scene gear, her brown hair tied into a ponytail. Her partner and boyfriend FBI special agent Seeley Booth stood alongside her, wearing his suit, shoes, tie and cocky belt buckle. In front of the couple and the rocky drive way stood a two story brick house with a chimney and a front porch. The house was surrounded by FBI agents, several standing just behind the yellow tape trying to keep both intrigued locals and hungry reporters beyond it.

Cam and Hogans both appeared at the front door deep in discussion. While she wasn't Sweets, Brennan noticed that their faces were extremely pale and covered in sweet like they had just woken from a nightmare. Booth also apparently noticed and frowned.

"Hey Bones you see Hogans and Cam?" Booth asked, his eyes fixed his co workers.

"Yes so?" Brennan inquired, clueless as ever.

"Something's got them spooked." It wasn't a question.

"What you mean they're not alive and have come back as ghosts to haunt us?"

Booth rolled his eyes and was about to explain what he meant when he caught Brennan's smirking face and quickly knew she was joking. "Got you again."

"Yes you did Bones really funny." _This is the seventeenth time she's got me this week!_

"Moring Doctor Brennan."

"Hi Wendell, I need photos of the body and tissue samples now."

"Right away."

Wendell Bray, Brennan's grad student nodded and moved off towards the house.

Brennan mentally frowned. Under layers of logic and intelligence, she knew that Wendell had the most potential out of all of her grad students. While far from the smartest intern, Wendell was dedicated to his work and got along with his colleges a lot. He also was hard working, maintaining two other jobs to support himself and to pay back his neighbours who had dipped together what little they had so he could attend school. Also showing how appreciated he was to them. Something Brennan personally understood from her years spent in an orphanage since she was fifteen.

Brennan was brought out of her thoughts by Cam approaching her and Booth. Changing her focus, Brennan inquired on the identity of the body.

"Name's Stella Higgins. Twenty seven years old. Unmarried. No criminal record, Lives alone."

"Alright who found her?" asked Booth.

"Stella's father Marcus came for a visit. When she didn't answer the door, he used a spare key to open the back door and found his daughter's body in her room on the bed."

"Poor guy." Booth grimaced, while Brennan frowned slightly. That she could to relate to, discovering the body of her own mother completely by accident over seven years ago. Managing to keep it together, Brennan asked Cam "and what of the remains?"

Cam sighed and shook her head, "the body's over six months old. In advanced state of decomp."

"So what's the cause of death?"

Cam was about to answer when Angela appeared, her usually cheery self. Or even happier.

"Hi guy's!"

"Morning Angela, what are you so happy?"

"Michael said his first word."

Cam muttered something under her breath the others didn't catch.

"Sorry Cam what did you say?"

Cam looked Booth in the eye and said:

"The only reason Angela should be happy is because she hasn't seen the body yet."

Brennan, Booth and Angela looked at Cam like she had grown an extra head. Cam turned and led a very confused trio into the house. Walking into the hallway, Brennan, Booth, Angela and Cam climbed the stairs, their feet making each one groan in protest. Something suddenly hit Brennan with the force of a train. Brennan gagged and brought a gloved hand across her face in a vain attempt to stop the smell of death, pain and blood.

They reached the stairs and walked towards the first bedroom on the left. Standing aside, Cam let Brennan, Booth and Angela enter ahead of her.

What they saw caused Angela to scream, Booth to swear the F word and trip over while Brennan's eyes widened in horror.

Stella Higgins lay on her bed, her eyes opened. Her blonde hair was sprayed out like fan. Her clothing consisted of a collared shirt and black pants. Her skin grey, lifeless and decayed. She was cut up like a animal. Her throat, stomach and chest were mutilated with so many stab wounds Brennan couldn't count them. Not a single inch of Stella's clothes were free of her blood. The entire bed and some of the wooden floor surrounding the bed was also covered blood.

Angela sighed a second before fainting, Brennan and Booth just managing to catch her.

Then something else caught their attention.

On the wall in front of them right next to the window painted in Stella's dried blood using two fingers, the murderer had left a smiley face.

**Hi everyone, this is a crossover between the Mentalist and Bones. If you WANT me to continue the story then leave a review. Otherwise, I won't post the next chapter and abandon this story. This takes place a month before Bones and Booth married and six months after the Mentalist episode Red John. Oh and by the way, in my fic Red John wasn't Thomas Macalister. The REAL Red John is still alive. Jane got the wrong guy AGIAN!?**


	2. Old friends and new enemies

**Hi everyone, this is chapter two of Red Bones. Also Grace Van Pelt and Wayne Rigsby will not be appearing in my fanfiction. Also, in my story Red John is a true mastermind and manipulator. I mean I really dislike the way Patrick Jane tricks Red John and kills him. Seriously, tricked into accepting something (bread crumbs) from the man who wants to kill you. How stupid can someone be?**

**Anyway enjoy this chapter and try to guess who Red John REALLY is. Take note of any clue in the story as it progresses as it will help you figure it out before I reveal who he is. I intend for fanfiction to be a long one**

Chapter two. Old friends and new enemies

After Angela was removed from the scene by Hodgins and assured by the medics that she was alright, Brennan and Booth returned to the crime scene to examine the body. Cam was still waiting for them in the bedroom, arms folded across her chest staring at the smiley face.

"Is Angela alright guys?"

'Yeah Cam she just fainted. Although I can't blame her." Booth grimaced as he took another look at Stella Higgins. He had seen hundreds of dead bodies serving with the army and treading over crime scenes with Bones. It was just the sheer brutality and coldness that set this one aside from the others. All those cuts and stabs had to be at least in the three figure range.

Brennan walked across to the bed and leaned over, examining Sarah Higgins by probing stabs and examining every inch of her skin and clothes. Wendell entered a minute afterwards and after recovering from his shock, followed Brennan's directions by photographing the body. After roughly five minutes of silence of Brennan (which Booth and Cam tried to break with small talk) she and Wendell stood and represented their findings to the pair.

"So what do we have?"

"Mister Bray would you like to take over?" asked Brennan, her sharp eyes closely following Wendell's actions.

"Um of course Doctor Brennan" Wendell stammered, knowing perfectly well that this was a test. He opened his mouth to speak at the same time when Brennan's gaze became too much and he pronounced a load of gibberish.

"Wel as the you see Um! Well is is quite obvious er?"

Booth and Cam were trying their best not to laugh.

Wendell found his voice again and resumed speaking, "well there are well over a hundred and fifty stab wounds and many more that I haven't counted yet. Roughly a third of the injures were inflicted before death while the rest were done after."

"So the murderer continued stabbing her even after she died. Why?" asked Cam.

"I'm not sure Doctor Saroyan. I'm not Doctor Sweets or Agent Booth but this does not look like a robbery to me. Was anything taken?" Wendell asked.

"Nah my guys finished interviewing the dad. He didn't notice anything gone." Booth said.

"Maybe the killer went into a fit stabbed and Ms Higgins again and again. Maybe this was a crime of passion?" Cam suggested, shrugging.

Booth frowned and looked at the smiley face, "maybe but a passionate crime doesn't add up to THAT."

Brennan, Cam and Wendell looked at the smiley face.

The sight of it was unnerving. The sick, almost mocking smile and its leering eyes sneered and taunted at them.

"You were saying Mister Bray?" Trust Brennan to break a tense moment.

"Yes there aren't any signs of a struggle. No sign of any bruising, just these stabs." Wendell elaborated." Also the stabs are all from the same weapon; very short, sharp on one edge and curved. A knife or a dagger perhaps?"

"So to inflict injuries that serious with such a small weapon the murderer would have to be very strong" Brennan added, nodding at Wendell.

"Well that should narrow the suspect pool" Booth grinned; at least they knew something about the killer.

"Finally some good news" Cam cried dramatically, throwing up her hands. After several seconds of silence she asked "any idea what kind of weapon it could be?"

"No, we'll take a mould at the lab and hopefully we'll find a match" Brennan said, frowning. "Also Mister Bray I am pleased with your findings but you missed something."

Wendell groaned and rubbed his head in embarrassment "what was it?"

"Here" Brennan put her index finger and thumb together and pulled something from the one of the stab wounds. It was small and covered in blood but Booth and Cam recognized it at once.

"Duct Tape" they exclaimed.

"Yes the murderer obviously restrained Ms Higgins with sliver duct tape and removed it after he finished stabbing her" Brennan stated.

"Alright so we'll give the sliver tape to Hodgens, move the body to the Jeffersonian and have a proper look at it there." Cam said.

"Alright then let's go."

Booth, Cam and Wendell filed out of the bedroom. Booth stopped and turned around to see what Brennan was doing. She was eyeing the body with something Booth couldn't identify.

"Bones?"

"Umm?"

"You alright?"

"I'm fine Booth. I just need a minute. Be down soon."

Booth left.

Brennan turned, her eyes glued to the smiley face. Its sick smirk unnerved her, made her feel unsettled. If Booth were still there with her he would have been able to identify what she was feeling.

Fear.

Managing to break eye contact with the smiley face, Brennan turned to leave as well. Just as she reached the door frame she noticed the end of a piece of paper hiding underneath the white bath rug. Curious, Brennan bent on her knees and carefully extracted it.

Folded in half, Brennan unfolded the paper, uncovering a quarter full page of typed words printed in the color red.

...

Downstairs, Booth, Cam and Wendell had just descended the last stair when they were ambushed by an excited Hodgins welding a test tube, containing several hairs covered in dried blood

"I found something!" He cheered, grinning like a maniac, thrusting the test tube into Cam's face "the killer left behind hair!"

"What! How?" asked Cam, half annoyed at the bug and slime guy, half hopeful that it was the killers.

"On his way out of the house, the killer took the time to close the front gate. Only his hand was caught between the post and the door and dislodged several hairs from his hand or forearm." Hodgins exclaimed, smiling.

"Good work Doctor Hodgins, get back to the Jeffersonian and run it through the database." Cam ordered.

"Yessir I mean ma'am" Hodgins replied, trying hard not to burst out laughing at the expression on Cam's face.

...

_Tiger! Tiger! burning bright  
In the forest of the night  
What immortal hand or eye  
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?_

In what distant deeps or skies  
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?  
On what wings dare he aspire?  
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And What shoulder, and what art,  
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?  
And when thy heart began to beat,  
What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?  
In what furnace was thy brain?  
What the anvil? what dread grasp  
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,  
And watered heaven with their tears,  
Did he smile his work to see?  
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright  
In the forests of the night,  
What immortal hand or eye  
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Brennan's mind was racing at a million miles an hour. Was this some kind of poem? Had the killer left behind? On Purpose? Why? To taunt Stella's family?

Brennan frowned and slipped the note into an evidence bag.

...

Outside, a sliver range rover was parked across the road from Stella Higgins house. A bald, dark skinned man wearing glasses sat in the driver's seat holding a Nikon D90 camera with an enhanced lens. Leaning through the wound down window, he was clicking away.

Click.

Cam and Hodgins arguing.

Click.

A covered stretcher in the process of being lifted into a forensic/evidence van by two uniformed FBI agents.

Click.

Brennan walking down towards Booth on the stone driveway carrying the note, flanked by Wendell.

Click.

Booth holding the bagged note with one hand the other on his hip, reading it.

It was perfect. These new players would make perfect pawns for him. After he had roped Patrick Jane's old team into the mix and his associates dealt with Mister Jane the pieces would all fit together. And with his own high status within the FBI, he would be in the perfect spot to monitor the investigation. This time, there would be no mistakes.

FBI special agent Dennis Abbot revved the engine of his car and pulled out into traffic. No one had even known he was there.

...

Or so he thought.

Two men dressed in suits and blazers watched the fleeing range rover. One was overweight and had a buzz style haircut while the other was short, skinny with long wild brown hair. Both wore gloves, one pair was leather while the other pair was cotton.

"Why was he here?"

"I'm just as surprised as you are doctor. I still have a friend in the FBI. She'll find answers.

"Please don't call me that. It makes me feel old. How would like it if I called you Special Agent?"

"Fair enough."

After several seconds of silence, the man continued speaking.

"To be honest when I rescued you from that place you weren't what I excepted."

"Being in that kind of place for five years can change a man many ways. I see the world differently now. Being naïve as I used to allowed a murderer to manipulate me against my own friends, ruining my life in the process. Just over some fabricated bullshit."

The two men turned and walked away.

**Thank you loyal readers. Also you read this post a review cause the more reviews the faster I type and post the next chapter. Try to guess who the two new players are. One is obvious while the other is slightly harder. If you think you know, review your guess to me. Jamiecreswell signing off. **


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